


A Swordsman's Tale

by MaverickToaster



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Also there are OCs but they aren't too major so dw, Doesn't end well for Agile tho, Gen, May deviate from canon a little? Idk, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 10:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11355942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaverickToaster/pseuds/MaverickToaster
Summary: Agile was one of the most capable fighters the Maverick Hunters had ever seen. A rash decision made in the heat of battle catches the attention of Sigma--and unbeknownst to him, seals his fate forever.A oneshot backstory fic for Agile.





	A Swordsman's Tale

There was a blinding flash of multicolored light and an airy whistle as the dispatched team of Maverick Hunters teleported into the scene. They were surrounded by buildings, some still standing, others already mercilessly destroyed, and the dusty haze that had risen from the ruins almost made it hard to see the sun. The ground was covered in rubble from the ruined structures, and the air was thick with sheer tension as their leader, Sigma, scanned the periphery for the Maverick Mechaniloid they were sent out to retire. Sigma was an impressively built reploid, standing almost ten feet tall, with facial features resembling those of a middle-aged man, complete with a shiny, bald, helmetless head. His eyes were a solid deep blue, and the armor encasing his chest and guarding his shoulders was green, with a red, circular gem embedded into the left part of the front. 

"Be on your guard, men," he called out towards the odd five or so hunters that accompanied him. "Our target could be anywhere."

As if on cue, the massive machine tore apart a sizable building with its two front legs and scuttled towards the procession of hunters at a slow but steady pace. Towering over three and a half times Sigma's height, it boasted five three-segmented legs, and a squat, almost hemisphere shaped body, clad in thick, dark gray metal, with turrets mounted both on top of it and on its underside. Attached to its front was a head-like bulb, with two large, red eyes for scoping out its next victim.

"I'll take out the bottom turret. Go for its legs!" Sigma commanded, raising his left arm to signal his unit to go into action. He activated his shining green beam saber and dashed towards the lumbering beast. The rubble haphazardly covering the ground provided for rather unstable footing, but this was more of a disadvantage to the Mechaniloid than to the elite hunter. The Mechaniloid was a bumbling, unsteady beast, and Sigma was a fleet-footed and skilled warrior whose very job was to take out mechanical creatures much like this one. 

All of the hunters accompanying Sigma rushed in to dismantle the rogue machine's limbs--all but a single, violet-armored hunter. He had pale-reddish eyes and impressive shoulder armor that came up to a point that reached past his head. He had joined the force only a few months prior, but in that short span of time he had already proven himself formidable enough to become an A-Rank Hunter and be admitted into the 17th Elite Unit, serving directly under Sigma himself, a feat few other Maverick Hunters had ever accomplished before him. He contemplated the way the machine moved for a few moments, analyzing its patterns before switching his right hand to a buster and rushing into the fray. He was an incredibly fast and dexterous reploid, undeniably rivaling the abilities of Sigma himself. He skillfully leaped back and forth, nimbly avoiding being crushed by the Mechaniloid, firing shots here and there into its various joints. Finally, the combined efforts of himself and another reploid sporting minty-colored armor put two of the beast’s legs out of commision, disabling it greatly. 

However, as it wildly stumbled about, trying to refind its balance, one of its legs caught Sigma off guard, kicking him squarely in the chest and sending him sprawling across the rocky mess it had made. 

"Commander!" the five hunters cried, almost in unison as their leader was sent flying. They stood in stunned silence for a few tense moments before the violet hunter dashed forwards and scooped up the saber that Sigma had dropped. He fumbled to turn it on, the weight feeling awkward in his hands. He gazed at the glowing green blade in awe for a few moments. Beam sabers weren't supposed to be handled by those not trained and cleared to fight with them--it was actually technically illegal, as they were highly dangerous weapons, especially in the hands of an untrained fighter who didn’t know what they were doing--but it was a spur of the moment decision, fueled by panic and adrenaline--or at least, whatever the reploid equivalent of adrenaline was. He deftly leaped over 30 feet into the air, landing on top of the Mechaniloid, and sliced the head clean off, then leaped back off and took out another leg at its base on his way down. With only two legs, the beast could no longer hold itself up, causing it to come crashing down. From there, firing a few lethal shots into the void where its head used to be was an easy task, retiring the Mechaniloid for good. 

The medic reploid along for the ride rushed to Sigma's side, helping him get back on his feet. 

"I'm fine. Thank you, Astrix," he said to the yellow armored reploid. "Now, where is my saber?" He turned his head and spotted it in the hands of the violet-armored prodigy.

The violet reploid froze as Sigma stepped towards him, knowing fully well he shouldn’t have even thought about touching the weapon. 

"My-my apologies, commander," he stammered, fearful of the consequences me might face, as he gave Sigma back his saber. "This is yours..."

Sigma gave him a smile. "I saw how you handled it, Agile. And you say you've never had experience fighting with a saber? You're a natural at this. Most people wouldn't even know how to activate it. And considering that this one's specs are designed specifically for myself-perhaps we should look into getting you your own...?"

"My own?" Agile said, surprise overtaking his fear. Very few Maverick Hunters were considered for such a thing, even among the elite. "It is an honor, but... Certainly not one I feel that I deserve. And I wouldn't expect the specs would be too different between us, I mean, we're similarly sized reploids, and-"

"Don't sell yourself short. You're everything a good swordsman should be," pressed Sigma. "Fast. Dexterous. Tactical. And--dare I say it--agile?" He gave the younger reploid a pat on the back. "I won't tell any higher-ups you technically broke the law, since I'm so impressed at how you fought. And don't go losing sleep over this, either. Remember when you wouldn't look anyone in the eye for a solid month because you accidentally burned one of the council member's popcorn, and you felt so incredibly guilty about it?" Agile frowned at being reminded of this. He was trying to forget that incident.

Sigma turned to address the group. 

"You all did very well today. Thank you. Now let's go back to the base so the cleanup crew can come in and we can assess any damage done to ourselves." He leaned over to Agile. "And you," he whispered. "Training starts tomorrow. Be at the simulation room by ten.”

 

Having gone almost entirely unharmed in the battle that unfolded the day before, Agile was allowed to rest for the night in a regular maintenance pod instead of spending it in the medical wing. He was not made unhappy by this news, as he didn’t like the medical wing much at all. The atmosphere was a bit too odd for him, he decided. He jumped out of the pod and looked around. It was still relatively early in the day, and many of his fellow Hunters were still sound asleep. He glanced at the clock that hung on the wall far to the left of him. Only 8 o’clock? Might as well go back to sleep for an hour, he thought. He shook his head, deciding that heading to the simulation room and getting in a couple practice fights before Sigma got there would be a better use of his time.

A familiar, friendly face greeted him as he walked down the hall. It was none other than X, the green-eyed blue-armored robot on whose design the entire reploid race was based off of. 

“Hey, Agile!” he greeted cheerfully, walking beside him, not seeming to mind that Agile’s height made him look like a dwarf in comparison. “Are you headed for the simulation room too?”

“Yeah, I got up a bit early and decided this would be a better use of my time than going back to sleep,” Agile joked. 

“I heard through the grapevine Sigma said you should get your own saber,” X shared, almost excited to change the topic. “What’d you do to get his attention like that?”

“Ah… I…” The question caught Agile off guard. “I don’t know, really. He mentioned something about keeping an eye on me for a long time and seeing my potential as a swordsman, or... Something along those lines.”

X’s eyes practically lit up. “Cool! It’s not every day Sigma says that about someone. You should be proud.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I most certainly am,” Agile said. “I just have no idea _what <\i> it is Sigma sees in me.” This was half a lie, half a truth. Sigma had said what he saw, but he didn’t quite see it in himself._

__

__

“You’re the prodigal reploid that could!” X reminded him. “Not everyone can just become an A-Rank Hunter in just barely three months of joining the force. Even I’m still a B-Rank Hunter.”

“By your own choice,” Agile pointed out as the two turned a corner into their destination. “You could easily make S or A-Rank if you wanted. But you just don’t want to- and don’t get me wrong, that’s a perfectly fine decision to make, I entirely respect it, I just don’t think I’m as special as everyone wants to say I am.”

“Sure you are!” X beamed. “Anyway, I told Storm Eagle I was gonna meet up with him here. Bye!”

Agile waved as X ran off to the third training chamber, the first two already being in use. Agile sighed. X loved telling him about how cool he was. X loved telling everyone about how cool they were. He shrugged it off and entered the fourth chamber. 

He was two hours and a dozen or so battles into the simulation when a knock came from the chamber’s door. No one could enter unless they had special clearance or was allowed in by the occupant, but it was generally agreed that it was proper to knock regardless of your clearance level, after more than a few mildly embarrassing incidents. Agile hastily put the program on pause as he hurried towards the door to see who it was. 

The visitor turned out to be none other than Sigma. 

“Commander!” Agile blurted out, surprised. Had he really been so engrossed in his training that two hours had already slipped by?

“Nice to see you’re showing the dedication to your craft I’d expect a high class hunter such as yourself to show,” Sigma remarked with a nod. “Are you ready?”

“Ready?” Agile thought for a few moments. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

“Very well,” said Sigma. He turned to exit the chamber. “Follow me. Have you been in the saber training room before?”

“I didn’t know we had one,” Agile confessed as he shook his head.

“I figured you’d say that,” said Sigma. “Plenty of people don’t know about it. It’s gone unused for, say, half a year now.”

Sigma led Agile to the far right end of the hub that connected and housed the two dozen training chambers. The six farthest to the right were reserved specifically for trainees, only one of those designed for saber-wielders due to them being so scarce, which was, of course, the room they entered. It was a tad smaller than a standard training chamber, which made sense, really, seeing as saber-fighting was a relatively close-quarters method of combat. 

“First things first, we’ll have to find you a training saber that’s the right balance for you. Or at least, as close to balanced as these generic toys can get.” Sigma said as he made his way up to a rack that held beam sabers of a multitude of weights and sizes, and picked out one located close to the end of the top row. “This one may work. Hold it and see if it feels right,” he said, presenting it to Agile.

The violet reploid accepted it, and passed it between his hands a few times, frowning. 

“What exactly am I looking for again?” he asked, feeling a bit silly.

“It should feel natural to hold in your dominant hand,” instructed Sigma. “Not too heavy, not too light. Hold it out about half the length your arm can extend.”

Agile did as he was instructed and frowned. “I think this one may be a bit light,” he said.

“Very good,” Sigma said, taking it and grabbing the next one over to where the previous one was. “I can tell you’d have needed the one a bit heavier than this, I only wanted to see if _you_ could tell you’d need it.” He gave Agile the appropriate saber. “Now of course, this one may not feel exactly right either- only one custom made for the wielder will be perfect, but alas. This will do for now.” 

Agile activated the weapon and peered at the silver-colored blade. “Are these capable of damage at all?” he asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Sigma said, grabbing his own, activating it, and sticking his hand through the blade. “They’re not much more than a fancy light show. They are, however, ridiculously cheap and easy to acquire compared to real sabers, and bounce off of each other as real sabers do, which is why basically every Maverick Hunter base in service uses them on the rare occasion a new saber wielder is to be trained.

“First things first,” said Sigma as the pair moved closer to the center of the room. “An actual fight will be nowhere near as choreographed or graceful as our practice spars. You have to be prepared for any kind of opponent. Second of all-” Sigma rushed in for a surprise strike, but Agile reflexively raised his own blade to defend himself. 

“Perfect. You must always be prepared for whatever your opponent may throw at you,” Sigma said with a smile. “Now, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have until I inevitably get called out to deal with whatever political nonsense the council may want me to address--truthfully, I could care less about whether off-duty Maverick Hunters should or shouldn’t be allowed to carry weapons, that’s a dumb question, of course they should, it’s our duty to protect everyone no matter what, and who knows what could happen while we’re not actively on duty?--but I can probably walk you through some of the basics today. Perhaps some basic striking moves to start?”

“That sounds doable,” responded Agile. “Question, this can be done either one-handed or two-handed, right?”

“That would mostly depend on the length of the handle and blade, but generally, yes. Just do whatever feels right to you,” Sigma replied. 

He demonstrated a few basic slashes to start. 

“First is the side slash,” he said, bringing the saber directly across the space in front of him. “It leaves the opponent little room to get an attack in, and covers a wide range, but is relatively easy to block. So…” He brought the blade up diagonally. “If you do get blocked, you can then strike at a diagonal. This has the potential to disarm an opponent, should they have an unsteady grip on their weapon, and if you do, the battle is more or less yours if you can act on the opportunity fast enough.”

“Like this?” Agile asked, trying the sequence himself.

“Perfect,” said Sigma. “Not the slightest bit of wobble to your strikes, blade stays perfectly level, cuts are fast. Exactly as it should be. Now…” He thrusted the blade straight ahead of him. “If you can disarm your opponent, don’t hesitate to go in for the kill.” He then brought the blade straight up, half bisecting the imaginary opponent. 

“Wouldn’t the height difference between my opposition and myself be a problem, commander?” Agile asked. “I don’t imagine I’d be fighting many other nine-and-a-half-feet tall swordsmen.”

“That is true. You’ll likely be taller than your opposition- which is a serious disadvantage to them. You’ll be able to better block strikes to your head and chest than if you were facing someone my height.”

“But then it’d be harder for me to block strikes going for the legs,” responded Agile. “I’d argue that puts me at a pretty severe disadvantage, too, because if my legs are damaged, I can’t move around to dodge, and that could leave me vulnerable.”

“I’d say you’re pretty alright on that part, as long as you stand sideways,” Sigma chuckled. “No, you’re right though, that can be a severe problem depending on your opponent. That’s why dodging and parrying are crucial parts of swordplay. You need to be able to act in the heat of battle to keep yourself safe. Reflexes are key.” And just to drive it home, Sigma suddenly knelt and slashed at Agile’s legs. Agile reacted in the only way that seemed sensible at the moment- he kicked Sigma’s arm, sending the saber flying out of his hand in an arc.

They both watched the mock weapon land and roll across the floor. 

“Whoops,” said Agile, after a few awkward moments of silence. “Sorry, commander.”

“No need to apologize,” Sigma said. “It worked. I am now disarmed, and you could follow that up with a fatal blow if you work fast enough.” He scooped up the saber. “But say you’re against an opponent who can block or dodge your attempts to disarm them? What do you suppose you could do then?”

Agile gave that a few moments’ thought. 

“Well, if they’re standing upright… You could kick their legs out from under them. And if they tried to jump back to avoid that, you could rush in to take advantage of the opening,” he answered

“An unconventional strategy, but one that could work very well if you can pull it off,” said Sigma. “Using your speed to your advantage will serve you extremely well in combat. Not everyone could keep up with someone as fast as you- nay, very few could. Being a fast fighter is a crucial part of your core function, after all, so you already have an extreme upper-hand in most situations. What you may lack in physical strength, you more than make up for, in... agility.”

It was at that moment that Sigma’s communicator decided to go off. 

“One second,” he said to Agile as he turned away to answer the call. “This is Sigma speaking. … Immediately? … Yes. Of course. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Goodbye.” He ended the call, then turned back to his apprentice. 

“It would appear I must leave now. Meet me back here tomorrow, same time. I’ll go over some defensive maneuvers. For now, go ahead and fire up the training program,” he said, gesturing to the monitor installed in the wall behind him. “It’s not as good as learning from an actual fighter, but it’ll do in my absence.” He then left, leaving Agile alone to contemplate what he learned. 

Agile watched his commander turn and leave. He looked down at the fake saber in his hand, still in disbelief that Sigma thought he, of all people, was worthy of this honor. But apparently he was, so what choice did he have but to accept it? He walked to the monitor Sigma pointed out to him, switched it on, and selected the first program on the list.

“Lesson One: Basics,” the computer’s voice said, echoing through the mostly empty room.

 

The cover of the pod popped open as Agile hoisted himself over the side, rubbing his eyes. It was two weeks into his saber training, and as Sigma put it, he was only getting better with each day that passed. Today, of course, was going to be pretty standard, at least in terms of schedule: start at ten and keep going until one of them got called out for whatever it was that needed to be done that day. He blearily looked up at the clock, which told him it was currently nine-thirty. It almost seemed like his days started mercifully later than an average person's--but this was all too often made up for by dealing with various incidents well into the night. He trudged down towards the simulation room, hoping to get in some practice before Sigma showed up. They decided yesterday that today they’d spar one-on-one to get a sense of how well Agile could hold his own in combat, and he’d definitely need every ounce of skill he had to put up anything resembling a fight. 

He was halfway to his destination when he was once again greeted by the friendly X. 

“Hey, Agile!” he called as he ran to catch up with him. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How’s your training been going?”

“Fine, thank you,” Agile responded. “Sigma and I agreed to have a sparring match today to see what my strengths and weaknesses are so far.”

“Cool!” X said, beaming. “I hope you do well. That won’t be an easy fight, after all, Sigma’s one of the most powerful reploids alive, but you can do it! I’m sure of it!” He then turned a corner into a separate hallway. “I have to go now, I agreed to meet with a couple of our other fellow Hunters. See ya!”

Agile waved as X disappeared from his sight. He really had no idea how X could maintain such a cheery disposition when the world was slowly spiralling into chaos as the Maverick threat grew larger with seemingly every day that passed. Even if it was only Mechaniloids and regular non-Reploid service robots going rogue, what if it got worse? Could it get worse? He shook his head. No time to worry about that now. After all, wasn’t he part of the very people trying to end that problem?

He walked into the saber chamber only to find Sigma already there. 

“Thought you could just show up early and review the programs before the fight, did you?” Sigma said with a smirk.

“I…” Agile trailed off, surprised that Sigma had showed up early enough to foil his plan. “...Yes. Yes I did.”

“A smart move,” said Sigma. “Unfortunately, that’s not quite how it works in real life. A Maverick won’t give you any time to prepare before a fight. You have to be able to be on guard all the time, and work with what you know and have in the moment- which is exactly why I showed up here an hour and a half ahead of time. Now, shall we begin?”

Agile nodded. Sigma tossed him his training saber, and the two rushed in at each other. Sigma took the first move, a hard overheard strike, which Agile responded to by quickly hopping to the right and delivering an overhead slash of his own. This, of course, was parried by Sigma, at which Agile took advantage of the opening left to thrust his blade at Sigma’s chest. Sigma’s response was a hop backwards and a slash to keep him from retaliating. This continued for a few minutes, as they traded blows and dodged and parried, the static-like sounds of the blades colliding echoing through the chamber. Neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand on the other, until Sigma let his guard down for a moment too long, allowing Agile to get in a stab into an upwards bisecting slash. The blade phased through harmlessly, but they both stopped almost immediately.

The two stared at each other in stunned silence as they processed what just happened. Sigma took a step back and nodded. 

“Good. Very good…” After a few more moments of silence, he erupted into laughter. “Might as well just send in for your license now! That was some of the best swordplay I’ve seen in my life!”

“In all fairness, you did make an easily exploitable mistake,” said Agile, “And if you hadn’t, I very likely would’ve lost.”

“You were fast enough to take advantage of a tiny window of time,” said Sigma. “The battle is fairly yours.”

“But…” Agile was going to bring up everything else that happened that he thought should count against him, but decided against it. “...Thank you, commander.”

“Now, as much as I’d like to just get you your license right now, there’s still an official exam that needs to be passed,” explained Sigma, “But I’m sure you’ll do perfectly. I have some business to attend to, now- in the meantime, think about what color you’ll want the blade to be, yeah?” and on that light note, Sigma turned to leave, but then he stopped. “And no, unfortunately, the type you’ll need doesn’t come in purple. Not yet, anyways.” Then he finally left, leaving Agile alone in his mild disappointment.

 

A few more weeks passed by. Agile and Sigma finished up the last bits of required training before the exam, and, as expected, Agile aced it. In retrospect, it was a lot simpler than an exam for handling such a dangerous weapon should’ve been- all he needed to do was prove he had reasonable control over the blade and take an oath to never harm a civilian with it, and besides, didn’t he already promise that when joining the Maverick Hunters?

Passing the exam unfortunately didn’t come with obtaining a physical license card or anything of the sort, only a section added to his database entry detailing his rights to carry and use the weapon. But that was for the best, he decided. After all, where would he even keep such a card? In his hat? That would be silly.

Agile shoved the cover of the pod he occupied open. Another day, another training session. He and Sigma figured they should keep at it until his own personal saber finally came in, which would hopefully be any day now.

X greeted him as he walked down the hall, as he often did, but this time he had some rather disappointing news for him.

“Sigma wanted me to tell you that he won’t be showing up today,” X said.

“Did he say why?” Agile questioned. It wasn’t like Sigma to have a middle man for delivering news like this- he usually sought him out himself when circumstances like this came up.

“Do you remember the red Maverick that Gamma and his unit were dispatched to deal with?” 

Agile nodded. 

“Well, the Maverick managed to wipe almost all of them out, even Gamma. Sigma wanted to go deal with it himself, so he and some of our unit went to take on the mission in the Gamma Unit’s absence, and they figure they may not be back for a while, if at all. Guess neither of us were invited.”

“I see,” said Agile. “Quite unfortunate that that happened. Will Gamma and his unit be fixable, or…?”

“We don’t know,” X said, frowning. “They haven’t been able to retrieve them yet, but judging by how the carnage was described, I don’t exactly imagine they’ll…”

X let the sentence trail off, but Agile knew how it ended. _I don’t exactly imagine they’ll be okay at all._

“I see,” said Agile. “It happens, unfortunately. Us Maverick Hunters always have to be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of humanity.”

“I wish it wasn’t like that, but you’re right,” said X. “Hey, if you won’t be doing anything with Sigma today, do you think you may want to help me and Astrix get the medical supplies organized until anything comes up?”

“Sorry, I’m not really a fan of… You know what? Sure,” said Agile, putting aside his distaste for the medical bay in favor of helping out his fellow unit members. Astrix always made going there somewhat bearable anyways, he was always very pleasant, very personable, and very humorous, and could make you feel comfortable and forget you were probably there to get your insides back into your body after a brutal Maverick fight, a quality that too many other medic reploids severely lacked. He could make you laugh while getting your arm reattached, or your leg, or any other body part that needed reattaching, except maybe your head. 

“Great!” said X. “Come on, follow me! He won’t want to be kept waiting.”

The duo stepped through the doors into the medical wing. Something Agile always noticed about the place was just how cold it was. He never minded the cold himself, in fact, he rather liked it, to the point where he certainly wouldn’t mind being stationed at a polar region (and deep down, almost wished he was), but the medical bay was always at least twenty degrees colder than the rest of the base, even in the dead of winter.

“Ah! There you are, X. And I see you’ve brought him along like I asked you to,” Astrix said, gesturing to Agile.

“Astrix!” X whined. “I framed it like I was asking him to volunteer to help us, not like I deliberately hunted him down because you needed someone tall enough to reach the high cabinets because you couldn’t be bothered to ask for a ladder.”

“Tsk, tsk, should’ve been upfront with him,” Astrix chided. “You know how basically everyone in our unit feels about false advertising. Remember when Stag pitched a fit because some paint he bought was slightly more orange than the container said it was? Or how about when Sigma got mad because a hat he bought was a shade more purple than the picture on the website showed it being? Or-”

“Hey, it’s fine, I don’t mind,” Agile said, raising his hands. “... But why can’t you be bothered to get a ladder again?”

Astrix waved him off. “Not important. What is important is that you help me get the vacuum out of the cabinet.”

“Why are we storing a vacuum in a high cabinet, of all things?” Agile asked as Astrix directed him to the cabinet in question. He tugged it out and set it on the floor with a light thud.

“Wasn’t my decision,” said Astrix. “One of the taller medics must’ve done it, maybe Fleret from Zeta’s unit, or Aleph from Omicron’s. And whoever did it put a _lot_ of stuff up there that doesn’t belong up there, which is really the entire reason I needed you.”

“Again,” said Agile. “Could you not have just gotten a ladder?” 

“Again,” said Astrix, “That’s not important.”

“I- wait, why didn’t Sigma have you go with him?” Agile asked. “Wouldn’t he want a medic going with him on a mission that dangerous?”

“Huh?” said Astrix, unsure of what Agile was talking about at first. “Oh, with the red Maverick situation? He said Gamma’s unit medic, Falren, was still fine, and he didn’t want me risking myself by going too when there was already someone there.”

Agile nodded. That seemed to be a pretty smart move. He didn’t know very many of the Hunters belonging to Gamma’s unit, but the medics and commanders all knew each other, and from what he knew, Falren was definitely on the same skill level as Astrix, if not better. Sigma would certainly be in good hands, should anything happen to him.

“Y’know, I sure hope if Gamma can be revived, he didn’t get decapitated. He said once that if he got his head taken off one more time, he was retiring and becoming a guitar hippy,” said X. Gamma had a reputation for getting his head severed from his body, and he was getting extremely tired of it, especially the nicknames and taunting it garnered from his fellow unit commanders.

“Gamma says a lot of things,” said Astrix as he grabbed the portable energy packs Agile handed down to him. “Remember when he threatened to throw Epsilon off a building if he won _another_ poker match? Epsilon won, and did he get thrown off the building?”

“He did, actually,” said Agile. “Sigma helped.”

Astrix went silent for a few moments before responding. 

“And he didn’t invite me to watch?” Most people in the base would’ve paid good money to witness that happen in person. Epsilon wasn’t exactly a bad person, but he wasn’t very well liked, either, even by the members of his own unit.

“Didn’t invite me or X, either. I heard about it from Mac the week after it happened.” Agile said as he handed a container of wires down to Astrix. 

“How much stuff do you guys fit up here, anyways?” he asked, puzzled by just much much stuff was packed into what seemed to be such a tiny space. He was surprised they fit a vacuum up there in the first place, not to mention everything else.

“Too much,” said Astrix. “I remember one time Falren opened the cabinet and got _literally_ buried. Like, we had to dig him out and everything. He hasn’t opened a cabinet ever since, always makes me or one of the other medics do it.”

X started up the vacuum. It was mercifully far quieter than the models that existed in 20XX. 

“Make sure you get under the pods, too,” Astrix called to him. “Might be a ton of dust under them. Maybe if you do really well, I’ll give you a lollipop,” he said with a chuckle.

“Do I get a lollipop for agreeing to help with this?” Agile asked, hopeful.

“You can’t even eat lollipops, you goof,” said Astrix. “Or at least, can’t taste them.”

“Most of us can’t,” said Agile. “Why do you even have lollipops?”

“Are we not supposed to?” 

“I mean, like I said, most of us can’t eat them.”

X decided to speak up. 

“It’s me. I eat them all.”

Astrix almost threw the box he was holding. “IS THAT WHERE THEY’VE BEEN GOING?”

“In my defense, they’re really good lollipops,” said X.

Agile cleared his throat to get the two bickering reploids’ attention.

“I don’t want to have to explain to our commander and the other medics what happened if you two try to kill each other over this,” he said.

He peered into the cabinet again. 

“I think that’s everything in here,” he said to Astrix

“Oh, wonderful!” said Astrix. “There’s still twelve more excessively high cabinets to go.”

Agile groaned.

It took an entire half of the day to get the cabinets emptied and their contents sufficiently organized, which was probably longer than it should’ve taken, but Astrix kept distracting him with stories of the shenanigans he and the other medics got into on the regular, the most notable of those incidents being when Aleph managed to misplace an entire stack of critically important paperwork, and every single one of the 17 Elite Unit medics went absolutely insane trying to locate it before word of its disappearance made it to the higher-ups.

“Phew,” said Astrix as he slid the last package into place in its shelf. “That’s it, finally. Again, thanks for coming over to help, I appreciate it.”

“No problem at all,” Agile said, brushing his hands off. “I’m always happy to lend my unit mates a hand.”

X wheeled the vacuum into the corner where it rightfully belonged. 

“Sigma hasn’t come back yet, has he?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice

“He hasn’t,” said Astrix. “That’s… Kind of worrying, actually. I can try to contact Falren to see what the situation is…” He put a hand to his helmet communicator. After a few moments, he managed to get through. 

“Falren, it’s Astrix from Sigma’s unit. What’s the situation there? … Youch. That sounds bad. Do you suppose he’ll be okay? … Ah, so he’s conscious? That’s good. Do you need help? … No, but he wants the Maverick studied? Are you sure? … Alright. I’ll get the facilities ready and get together some scientists. What of the rest of your unit? … All of them? Even your commander? Oh… Oh, that’s awful. I’m so sorry… … Alright. See you later, then.”

Astrix sucked in a breath as he turned back to X and Agile. 

“Sorry. I’m gonna need you two to go. I’ll call the rest of the medics, get everything prepared, and…” he trailed off. “I don’t know. Can you two go tell some of the scientists to come see me?”

X and Agile nodded, and left the room together. 

“That’s… That was some pretty rough news we overheard there,” X said as they walked down the hall. “Poor Falren. Our units are practically like family, and from the sound of it, his entire unit just got wiped out…” 

Agile noticed the robot’s voice begin to wobble near the end of his sentence. 

“X? Are you okay?” he asked, looking down at him.

X wiped the tears out of his eyes. “I’m fine, I just…” He went quiet. Agile patted his back, and they continued in silence. 

They eventually arrived at the research section of the base. Agile pushed the door open and stepped inside. 

“Um, excuse me,” he said. All of the on-duty scientists stopped to look at him. Most of them were reploids, but there were a handful of humans among their ranks. Agile continued, now that he had their collective attention. “Astrix asked us to deliver a message. He wants a few of you to see him. Something about needing a Maverick to be studied.”

A few of them looked at each other in wonder. 

“A Maverick? To be studied?” a red-haired human asked. A brief discussion broke out among the crowd. 

They chattered among themselves for half a minute before a decision was made. An indigo-armored reploid stepped forward. 

“I know not what he thinks will be accomplished, but very well. We’ll do it," he said. "Will six of us be enough?"

“Uh, I would think so, for now, anyways. The only description Astrix gave for the amount was ‘some’,” responded Agile.

“Very well,” said the indigo reploid, turning back to address the group. “Arke, Esna, Cygnus, Shiru, and Jasper, come with me, please.” He turned back to Agile. “Medical wing, right?”

“Of course,” said Agile, stepping aside to allow procession to exit. He and X watched them walk down the hall. 

“What do you suppose they’ll find out?” X asked, his voice still slightly shaky.

“I don’t know,” said Agile. “I wonder why Sigma wanted the Maverick studied in the first place?”

“I don’t know either,” said X. He sighed. “There’s no use worrying about it, I guess. What’s done is done.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

 

_Tap tap tap._

Agile cracked his eyes open. Why was he being woken up? Who was waking him up? How did they think waking him up was a good idea?

_Tap tap tap._

Whoever it was doing it was certainly persistent. He pushed the lid open and sat up. The person disturbing his sleep was none other than X.

“Sorry to wake you up, I know you hate your rest being disturbed,” said X. “Sigma can’t leave the medical bay yet, so he sent me to get you after you wouldn’t answer his call.”

Agile grunted. “Should’ve sent an emergency signal through if he wanted me awake that badly. Thank you, X.” He hopped out. “Are you gonna come with me?”

“No, I agreed to helping someone out with some paperwork today. Kinda slow with our commander in medical and all.”

“I see,” Agile said. “Well, again, thank you for letting me know.” He then left to see what Sigma wanted. 

He stepped into the doors of the medical bay, and was greeted by a blue armored reploid trying to exit. “Hello, Falren,” said Agile. “Sigma wanted to see me?”

“Ah, yes, Sigma,” the medic said. “You’ll find him in room A-6.”

“Thank you,” Agile said. He made his way into the hall that housed the A rooms, entering the room labelled A-6. 

“Commander?” he asked. 

Sigma sat up in the maintenance pod. 

“Just who I wanted to see,” he said. “Come here. I’ve got something for you.” Agile stepped closer to his commander until he was beside him.

Sigma reached down next to the pod to grab a nondescript white package, and presented it to Agile. 

“This is yours.”

Agile took the package into his hands and looked down at it, wondering what the contents could be. 

“Go ahead,” Sigma urged. “Open it.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. Just open it. I had them bring it to me and everything instead of delivering it straight to you.”

Agile warily opened the box, sliding out out a dark gray case about ten inches long, four inches wide, and three inches tall, which he carefully unfastened and opened. There, sitting in a soft nest of dark gray cushioning, was a pristine, shiny, silvery-gray beam saber.

“For me? Are you sure?” he asked in disbelief.

“Who else would it be for?” said Sigma. “Go ahead, turn it on. I’m sure no one’s going to notice.”

Agile carefully lifted the weapon from its cushion, and pressed the button to activate the blade. From the hilt sprung a long, glowing, ruby-red blade that casted its scarlet light over everything surrounding it. 

“It’s… It’s perfect,” said Agile. “Thank you so much, commander.”

“Right, you’re welcome. Now leave me be, this is all. I need my rest,” said Sigma, waving Agile off.

Agile was somewhat surprised at just how unceremonious Sigma was being with what should be such a special occasion, especially considering that he went out of his way to present it to him himself, but chalked it up to him needing to recover from what just happened to him the day before. Wasn’t exactly easy to be kind to your subordinates when you were just almost murdered, he figured. 

“Very well, commander,” he said, putting the saber back into its case and leaving the room as requested. 

 

Unfortunately, and also somewhat strangely, Sigma’s demeanor didn’t get any better over the months that followed. If anything, it just kept getting worse, and _weirder_. The kind-hearted commander the 17th Elite Unit once knew was replaced by a somewhat cold, manipulative, and quite frankly, _creepy_ reploid that unnerved everyone around him.

On the somewhat bright side, though, it was almost the opposite for the red Maverick. His name was Zero, they learned, and although he was quite distant, he was friendly enough, and an exceedingly good fighter, and had been put into the 17th Elite Unit by Sigma’s request. 

This complete change in heart from both parties was a complete shock to everyone, and none of the medics or scientists could explain how or why it happened. All anyone could really do was accept it, as neither of them were displaying odd Maverick tendencies.

X, of course, was the one who worried the most about Sigma, and this was the very matter he pressed Agile about one quiet summer afternoon.

“You’re worried about Sigma too, right?” asked X as he took the seat next to Agile’s in the break room.

“Hmm? Ah, certainly,” said Agile, looking up from his ebook. “It’s like you told me all those months ago, our units are like family. But there really isn’t anything that can be done about it…”

“I just wish we knew _why_ this was happening,” said X, tapping his fingers on the clear glass table.

“Everyone wishes they knew,” remarked Agile. “I was talking to Shiru the other day about this very topic, actually. He said they don’t have the slightest clue what’s going on, but there’s a theory that whatever did it to Sigma is the same force that made Zero the way he is as well.”

“I suppose we can rest assured knowing that the scientists are trying to crack the mystery,” said X. “I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed yet, but I think it’s starting to happen to some of our other fellow Hunters as well.”

“Has it?” asked Agile, interested. “Like who?”

“Well, there’s Spark Mandrill from our unit, and I feel like Flame Stag and Mac are heading that direction as well,” X started, “And I think Launch Octopus from one of the Naval units is acting kind of odd too.”

“Weird. Almost like it’s spreading,” Agile said, frowning.

“Sort of like a virus or something,” commented X. “Maybe we can tell the scientists about this. They could do something useful with this information.” Just as he raised his hand to his helmet communicator, Sigma’s voice blared through it. 

“All members of the 17th Elite Unit, report to the dispatch room _immediately_. I repeat: all members of the 17th Elite Unit, report to the dispatch room _immediately_.”

X and Agile shot each other a look, and then ran for the dispatch room as instructed. 

Agile, of course, made it there first, X arriving a half minute later, along with the rest of the unit. 

Sigma spoke extremely briefly. 

“Five rogue Mechaniloids, all highly dangerous models. We have to get there, now.” He gestured to the screen behind him. “Coordinates are right here. Let’s go.”

The unit nodded in unison as they all teleported out to the scene. 

What they arrived to could only be described as an utter disaster. It was like a tornado had been through the section of the city. There were no civilians to be seen, thankfully, but the ground was piled high with ruins and the air was extremely hazy, with burning buildings almost completely lining the perimeter of the area in which they stood. 

“They can be anywhere. Watch your backs,” said Sigma. “As always: Take out the legs first, then disarm its weapons, then finish the job.” The unit responded with a unanimous “Yes, commander”. They pressed on through the rubble in search of one of their targets. 

Shortly, one of them made themselves known, a massive, ten-legged beast of a machine, far larger than anything Agile had seen in his time as a Maverick Hunter. This kind of Mechaniloid was uncommon to see, evidenced by the rather worried whispers that suddenly rose from the other members of the unit. 

Sigma raised an arm and issued a simple command: “Go.”

Agile watched it for a few moments, as he usually did with beasts like this. He spotted what appeared to be some sort of lens on the underside of the machine. If he could take that out, the weapon mechanisms beside it would no longer be able to aim. One problem, though: _the weapon mechanisms were right next to it_. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could disable both in time, but then it would likely start stumbling wildly, no longer having a visual of its surroundings, making that strategy more trouble that it’d be worth.

He opted to start disabling the legs as was commanded. The ease with which his saber cut through the metal was exceedingly satisfying, and also a great reminder of just why you needed council approval to own and use one. 

However, he soon slipped up and missed cutting all the way through on a single leg. Almost as if punishing him, it shot out a jet of hot oil directly into his face. He stumbled backwards, having been rendered temporarily blind as he tried to wipe it from his eyes. 

Unfortunately, those few crucial seconds proved to be his downfall as the Mechaniloid’s leg connected squarely with his chest, sending him flying directly into one of the few buildings still standing. The force of the impact managed to partially embed him into the concrete, and as if to add insult to injury, another leg rose again just to drag him down with its sharp tip. He hit the ground with enough force to render him immobile. He silently cursed his fragile construction, as after all, all the speed and fast reflexes in the world can’t help really help you when you can’t even see what you’re trying to dodge.

Agile may not have known very many things in that moment, but what he did know was that he could hardly move or speak, his vision and consciousness were fading fast, he was in a lot of pain, and Astrix was probably having the reploid equivalent of a heart attack right now.

And in fact, he was. Astrix immediately went into action. 

“Keep fighting! I’ll attend to him!” he shouted to the rest of the unit. He almost stumbled over the rough terrain as he rushed to Agile’s side. 

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay,” he said as reassuringly as he could as he knelt down to assess the damage. “I… Ouch. That looks bad.” Bad was an understatement. The gash in Agile’s torso went from his neck to almost all the way down to his legs, exposing vital internal structures and leaking oil all over the shattered concrete he laid on, and he was almost entirely unresponsive, save for a few twitches and grunts here and there. 

“I’ll just… You’ll be fine. I’m going to call the medics at base, okay? I’m not sure if you can even hear me right now, but you’re going to be okay. I promise.” Astrix put a hand to his communicator. “Falren? This is Astrix. … Yeah, and get a few others as well, it’s not great. … Alright, I’ll send him in now.” 

He unhooked the aid pack from his back and fished out a teleporter harness, which he gently attached to Agile’s arm. “Here,” said Astrix, not knowing his words now fell on deaf ears as Agile was now too unconscious to hear him. “You probably wouldn’t be able to get yourself to base like this, so I’ll just manually teleport you there. They’ll take care of you. You’ll be fine.” He pressed the button in the middle, and in a flash of light and a whistle, Agile was teleported out of there.

 

The first thing Agile noticed when he awoke was that he no longer felt like he was dying. He was still somewhat sore, yes, but at least he wasn’t actively on the brink of death. He sat up with a bit of difficulty and looked down at himself. The medics had done a fantastic job of fixing him up- he couldn’t even tell he had just been torn open not too long ago. He looked around, and saw that the room was empty. He glanced over the side of the pod he was situated in, debating if he should try to hop out, but decided against it. Reaching behind his back, he noticed his beam saber was mysteriously absent from where he usually kept it, over his right shoulder. One of the medics must be holding on to it for now, he figured. The sound of the door being opened caught his attention, and he looked to the front of the room.

“Commander?” he said, surprised. Sigma hardly paid injured members of his unit a visit anymore. Agile noticed he was wearing a cape- red on the outside, purple on the inside. “I like the cape,” he said.

Sigma remained silent as he walked up to the pod. He finally spoke when he arrived at Agile’s side. 

“Listen carefully, Agile,” he said. “What I’m about to tell and offer you is critically important.”

Agile was taken aback at this. 

“I’m listening…?” he said, uncertain.

“Humanity is holding us back. Humanity is keeping from advancing to the next stages of our evolution,” Sigma stated. “Humanity and those foolish Maverick Hunters that protect it alike.”

“Those foolish…? Commander, I don’t think I understand-”

“Join me, Agile,” Sigma pressed. “The world needs powerful reploids like you and I to lead it into a new golden era for all of reploidkind.”

“Er… I don’t know what’s gotten into you, commander,” said Agile, “But I’m not going to turn against the very people I swore to protect.”

Sigma didn’t accept this answer. “You could be one of the most revered Mavericks in my army,” he said. “The entire world would know exactly who you are. Everyone would hail you as their hero.”

“No!” spat Agile. “I won’t do it. I have a duty. I’m not going to abandon it for this absurd notion that we’d be better off without humanity!”

“You say that like you ever had a choice,” Sigma said in a low growl as he grinned wickedly. 

Agile tried to open his mouth to speak again. Sigma, however, had other plans. He grabbed Agile by the throat and pinned him against the wall beside the maintenance pod he was situated in. 

“I was hoping you’d come with me of your own accord,” Sigma said. “Now I see I’ll have to force you.” Agile tried to fight back, but Sigma’s grip was too strong, and he wasn’t letting go.

“Commander- please- I don’t know what you’re doing or why, but- ack!” Sigma cut him off by digging his fingers deeper into his throat. They started to burn, sending white-hot shoots of pain through his body. “Just- let- me- go…” 

Agile eventually stopped resisting. He didn’t want to resist anymore. Sigma let him fall to the floor, where he sat, limp and immobile.

Sigma knelt down.

“Humanity must be wiped out for us to progress. Is that clear?”

Agile weakly looked up. 

“Yes,” he said. “Of course, Master Sigma.”

**Author's Note:**

> First submission, woo. Agile doesn't get nearly as much attention from the fandom as I think he deserves, so here's my contribution to help amend that. Want to see more? Let me know! I'm currently contemplating writing up another fic about X2 from the perspective of the X-Hunters, so that may end up being a thing you can look out for.


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